On Monday the musical adventure known as Jam Cruise 12 visited Falmouth, Jamaica - the
first port of the five-day
trip. Jam Cruisers had many options for how they wanted to spend their time in Jamaica
ranging from tubing
excursions to trips to the famed Dunn's River Falls to chilling on the beach near the ship
to relaxing or sleeping on
the boat itself. As I've mentioned a number of times, Jam Cruise is truly a "choose-your-
own-adventure" experience
and in talking to fellow attendees after we left Jamaica, it seemed most were content with
the decisions they made for
Monday afternoon, even if it was simply catching up on sleep following two marathon days
of music.

There was one option in Jamaica that had a bit more spiritual depth to it and that was a
Positive Legacy excursion
into the town of Falmouth. Attendees choosing this option were shuttled to the local
soccer stadium, where they met
with young students from the Music & Arts Institute. All proceeds from the Positive Legacy
excursion will go towards
aiding the construction of a new audio and video recording studio at the Music & Arts
Learning Experience, a place
where young Jamaicans can learn about music free-of-charge. This is Jam Cruise after all
so there was plenty of
music involved in the trip as local musicans jammed with members of The New Mastersounds,
ALO, Greensky
Bluegrass, MarchForth Marching Band and Steve Kimock as conducted by Matt Butler.

As we prepared to leave Jamaica and I crossed paths with legendary bassist Victor Wooten
of the Flecktones, it had
me thinking about just how many ridiculously talented musicians are aboard the boat this
year. Let's just talk
bassists - the MSC Divina is hosting Wooten, Les Claypool, George Porter Jr., Aston
"Family Man" Barrett, Bootsy
Collins and Marc Brownstein, among many others. And that's just the bassists!

Each year as we depart the first Caribbean port, a reggae band plays the Sail Away set on
the Pool Deck Stage.
Previous performers for this slot included Burning Spear and Toots and the Maytals, but
this year The Wailers did the
honors. It was a treat to hear a slew of Bob Marley classics as we pulled away from
Jamaica. The hits kept coming
throughout the set with "Buffalo Soldier," "Them Belly Full" and a singalong take on
"Three Little Birds" standing out
as highlights.

Guitarist Stanley Jordan had a big day on Monday as he performed a solo set in the Jazz
Bar and played a set of
improv with George Porter Jr., DJ Logic, Adam Deitch and John Popper. Jordan packed the
intimate Jazz Bar for his
solo performance as nearly every inch of the room was filled with attentive fans. In fact,
it was the most attentive
crowd I've ever seen for a Jam Cruise set - attendees were hanging on every note as the
inventive jazz guitarist
worked in versions of "Stairway To Heaven," "Little Wing" and "Havah Negilah" (!)
throughout the hour-long
performance. Stanley even emulated a computer at one point, showing off his signature two-
hand tapping style.

Each day I look forward the Solo Piano Set at the boat's atrium, but I must admit I was
unfamilar with Monday's
performer - Kelly Finnigan of The Monophonics. I took a chance and attended anyway and was
glad I did as the
soulful singer/keyboardist displayed tons of personality in the Storyteller-esque setting.
Once he led the crowd
through "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by The Band and "Space Oddity" by Bowie, I
was completely sold and
look forward to The Monophonics's set on Tuesday.

Up first in the Pantheon Theater was Popper, Logic, Porter, Deitch and Jordan. Improv is
in the eye of the beholder
and after the set I heard so many differing opinions on the jammed out set, but for me the
entire performance was
magical. We're talking about a rhythm section of Adam Deitch and George Porter Jr. backing
John Popper, DJ Logic
and Stanley Jordan - some real beasts at their instruments. The group started off with a
potent 20-minute jam that
explored a number of completely different jam spaces ranging from blissful to dark and
nasty. Logic had issues
getting his rig up and running, yet that didn't stop his band mates from building the
music to a full boil without him.
Eventually Logic worked out his issues and I thought his contributions were extremely
tasteful. As if the quintet
wasn't insane enough, saxophonist Bill Evans joined the fray for the last few jams.

The MarchForth Marching Band made their Jam Cruise debut in 2013 aboard Jam Cruise 11. It
says quite a lot that the
group was invited back the next year. "Spectacle" is a great word to describe the circus-
like atmosphere of a
MarchForth performance. I give the band props for making sure their set, which was filled
with acrobatics and stilt-
walkers, was completely different from last year's sets. The crowd went wild when the
massive ensemble busted out
Lonely Island's "I'm On A Boat."

There's no lack of funk aboard Jam Cruise in all sorts of forms. Monday saw a number of
funk acts that focus on the
groove such as The New Mastersounds and Robert Walter's 20th Congress. Walter, a Jam
Cruise regular, may be the
leader of his band, but I was blown away by the talents of Cochemea "Cheme" Gastelum.
Cheme mixed sax and flute
work with a plomb throughout the RW20thC set, which included a guest appearance from
Bonerama front man Mark
Mullins.

There's only one band that has performed on each and every Jam Cruise and that's New
Orleans funksters Galactic.
You can always count on Galactic to bring their A Game to the ship and this year's Pool
Deck Stage set was no
exception. The band cycled many guests on stage throughout their performance including
Ivan Neville, Mike Dillon,
Ian Neville, Will Bernard and Cyril Neville. David Shaw of The Revivalists led Galactic
through the final portion of their
set along with fellow vocalist Maggie Koerner. Shaw was on stage for two of the Galactic
Pool Deck Stage highlights
as he rapped ODB's "Got Your Money" and shared vocals with Koerner on an outstanding
version of "Gimme Shelter"
by The Stones - perhaps the best cover I've seen thus far. Guitarist Luther Dickinson,
aboard as a faculty member for Masters Camp At Sea, made his first main stage appearance
adding fuel to the "Gimme Shelter" fire.

As the clock struck midnight I was fascinated by the variety of musical choices available
to Jam Cruisers. Want to see
hard-hitting funk? Galactic was holding court on the Pool Deck Stage. Looking to take in
sacred steel? Robert
Randolph and the Family Band were rocking out in the theater. Looking to boogie to
bluegrass? The Infamous
Stringdusters were playing before a huge crowd in the Black & White Lounge. There was a
little something for
everyone. Both Eric Krasno and Roosevelt Collier showed they are true players who could
adapt to any situation as the
pair sat in with both The Infamous Stringdusters and Randolph over the course of 45
minutes. Kraz's hearty licks with
the Dusters were particularly impressive. One surprise for me was the stage presence of
The Stringdusters who were
all over the place and worked the crowd into a frenzy. These guys are the real deal and I
see big things ahead for
them.

Conspirator made their Jam Cruise debut this year as they closed out the Pool Deck Stage
action on Monday night.
While there was plenty of jamtronica from the group, I was happily surprised by the amount
of straight rock involved
in the set. Guitarist Chris Michetti unleashed one powerful riff after another throughout
the performance, while
bassist Marc Brownstein always kept the music moving. Big Gigantic drummer Jeremy Salken
sat in with Conspirator
as did KDTU guitarist DJ Williams, who simulated scratching records on his six-string.

Lettuce keyboardist Nigel Hall was the evening's Jam Room host. He led a number of his
musical friends including
drummer Nikki Glaspie, guitarists Eric Krasno and Shmeans, vocalist Alecia Chakour,
bassist Eric Kalb and
saxophonists Ryan Zoidis and James Casey through a batch of classic soul and R&B covers
from the likes of Frankie
Beverly and Greg Phillinganes. We even saw Robert Randolph lend a hand on congas and Kraz
switch to bass for a
segment of the performance. Apparently 3 a.m. isn't past the bedtime of 10-year-old guitar
prodigy Brandon
Niederauer, who made his Jam Room debut count on Monday night. Robert Walter, Tony Hall,
Ivan Neville, Ian Neville
and Cyril Neville were just a few of the musicians who passed through the Jam Room on Day
Three of the trip.

Today is the trip's second "Day At Sea," meaning another power-packed day of music aboard
the Divina as we head
towards the Bahamas. Check back tomorrow for a full report from Andrew Bruss.